Lost Memory
by Tsukisamu Sayako
Summary: What can you do when the only thing you remember from your past is a name? When you're not even sure that is your name? What can I do? The name I remember is Ventus Avers. This is my story.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

* * *

The overhead fluorescent tubes were dark, unlit for a couple of hours already. A lone desk within the department remained lit underneath an incandescent desk lamp, the young man who owned the desk sat frozen in the worn polyester-upholstered chair, his forearms lying upon the cleared desk with a piece of paper within his hands. The single scrap of paper held only one name, the once thick sheet worn thin from the regular handling by the yellow-haired man.

The pale complexion of the young man accentuated the haggard look upon his face—countless late nights in his line of work were slowly catching up to him, though he refused to acknowledge the fact. Yet, despite the clear signs of fatigue, he never once felt the exhaustion that would cause others to become bedridden for hours, even days.

That single piece of paper held so much meaning for him; yet ironically, the name written upon the paper in dark black Sharpie also meant nothing to him. There was no memory he could recall of the name, only the day when he woke up with the piece of scrap paper held tightly within a clenched fist, the day when he was "born".

"Still here, Ven?" came the cool voice of the department head.

Ventus Avers broke out of the empty darkness within his mind to regard the light pink-haired woman that was his commander. Lieutenant Claire Farron was an impressive woman, serious the majority of the time with a side of deviousness that was necessary for her to deal with the heads of other departments. There was little to nothing that she couldn't get for her department's investigations; whether it was cooperation from other departments or access to classified information, she was able to cut through the bureaucratic tape every single time.

Claire scrutinized the detective in front of her, her keen eyes seeing not the obvious signs of fatigue upon the pallid face but the distant look within the man's blue eyes that was so common with the yellow-haired man. Though she's known him for well over three years, there was always a mystery about Ventus Avers that not even a sharp-minded detective such as herself could unravel. She knew that the enigma will never be solved until he spoke about his past.

Ventus smiled at the older woman, folding the piece of paper in his hands along the frayed edges and replacing it in the top right drawer. "You should know better than to ask me that, Light," he responded, leaning back in his swivel chair to face her. "I thought you'd have gone home already. Haven't you gotten an earful from Serah this week already?"

The woman nicknamed "Lightning" rolled her eyes and scoffed, leaning against the desk next to Ventus's own. "Villiers's with her. I should be fine tonight." The displeasure within her voice was not lost on the blonde, who laughed heartedly. An icy glare from the woman quickly stopped the laughter.

"Still not enamored with the reality that Snow is going to be your brother-in-law?" he queried with a hint of a smile. Claire had crossed her arms as a telltale sign that she was annoyed by the situation with her sister and Snow Villiers, the owner of a mechanic shop near where Claire and her sister lived. The man seemed to have a penchant for being entangled in practically every single case that Claire has had to deal with for the past two years since the two Farron sisters had taken Serah's car to the shop. There were rumors that Snow was a former spy, but Ventus never dealt with the man during a case; he had ever only met the man once during the last New Year's Eve party.

"Don't remind me," she said tersely. She stepped away from the desk and looked down at the still lounging man. "Ven, go home."

"Ah," the blonde replied absent-mindedly, semi-swiveling in his chair while staring at the polished desk that gleamed underneath the orange-yellow light of the incandescent bulb. He made no motion to get up and actually follow Claire's advice, causing the woman to sigh once again.

"Come on," she said, grabbing his nearest arm and pulling him up.

"W-what?" he uttered, startled by her action. He winced as she turned off his desk lamp and pulled him along behind her.

"I'm taking you home."

Ventus sputtered indignantly. "I'm not a kid!" he exclaimed, attempting to free his arm, but he'd forgotten how strong Claire was, particularly when she's got something set in her mind.

"Now you're acting like one," she replied, a smirk on her heart-shaped face.

"I can go home just fine on my own, Light," frowned Ventus, giving up when the woman shook her head.

"Don't lie, Ven," she said softly. They had entered into the men's locker room and stopped in front of a large locker. "I know you have your clothes here." She pointed at the locker. "What was the problem with your last apartment?"

Ventus sighed and unlocked the locker, pulling out the black duffle bag that held pretty much all of his belongings—his clothes. He wasn't even sure why he had bothered packing up all the clothes he had when he could just get new ones.

"I dunno," he muttered. "I just didn't like the place."  
"That's the fifth apartment you've gone through this year and it's not even April!" she exclaimed, eying him with concern. "It's been the same for the last, what, three years?"  
"I'm better off living in a hotel than in my own apartment I guess," he said sheepishly, running a hand through his hair. He winced at the greasy feeling that met his fingers, wondering how long it had been since he actually had a proper shower.

"That's it, you're coming with me."

"What?" blurted Ventus with surprise.

"I'm taking you home with me," she said firmly, giving him no chance of arguing back. "I'm sure Serah would love to have you around too."

"But-"

"No 'but's," she said, smiling at him as she pulled him along. "You're staying with me until you can get over this phase of yours."

Ventus sighed in resignation, his shoulders slumping as sign of acquiescing to Claire's wishes. "Oh, alright."

"Good."

* * *

Though Ventus has been to Claire's place before, a homely two-storied house that was the site of the said woman's birthday party just two months prior, he wasn't entirely sure what he should expect if he started living with the Farrons, knowing perfectly well that they had lived by themselves ever since their parents died seven years ago, shortly after Claire had become a detective.

"You sure Serah will be fine with me staying with you guys?" the uncharacteristically fidgety man asked. Claire dared a glance over at the blonde, stifling a girlish giggle at his shyness. He was 25 years old! Yet he is surprisingly shy when it came to dealing with the opposite sex outside of his work.

"Don't worry," reassured the strawberry blonde. "You've known her for a couple of years now. You should know how she is when it comes to guests."

"But never someone who's going to live with her for weeks," murmured the younger man.

The sergeant scoffed. "What, have I not been living with her for years now?" she retorted in jest.

"You're…" he looked away, stopping himself from finishing the stupid sentence.

They stopped at a traffic light that had just turned red. She looked over to him, interested in what the man had wanted to say. "I'm what?" she asked.

"You're a woman," he muttered.

For a few brief seconds, Claire said nothing, and the detective feared that he had offended her with his stupid remark. But when he heard her laugh, he turned to look at her with slight suspicion, as though he was waiting for her to abruptly stop and glower at him with one of her trademark glares.

"That has got to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard you say," she said once her laughter finally subsided. Ventus could only look away with his face as red as a tomato.

"It's true though!" he replied defensively. "You're not a guy and you're her sister. I'm just an acquaintance."

"I'll bet she knows more about you than you think she does," Claire giggled.

"How would she know?" he asked skeptically before answering his own question. "Wait, don't answer that. I forgot. She's your sister."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she accused, her lips twitching into yet another smile. "Are you saying that I'm nosy?"

Ventus wisely chose not to comment further, only replying with "Light's green."

Claire huffed with annoyance at his evasiveness and continued driving back to her house. "Don't think you're going to get off the hook that easily," she quipped.

"I wouldn't dare think about it," he muttered underneath his breath. His companion only smiled silently.

* * *

Serah Farron stirred in her sleep as the sound of her alarm clock rang on the nightstand next to her bed. With a groan, she reached out and slapped the off button, murmuring incoherently. She yawned and got up, the smell of coffee wafting into her room from the kitchen downstairs.

Unlike her older sister, the younger strawberry blonde was not a morning person. However, once she was truly awake, she was a bundle of energy—a natural foil to Claire's usual stoicism.

In her sleepy stupor, she hadn't noticed that the door to the nearest bathroom was closed. In fact, she had completely forgotten the fact that there was a guest in the house

She stared with half-lidded eyes at the half-naked man who had stopped to stare back with his own half-lidded eyes. She blinked slowly and deliberately, uncomprehending the sight that met her eyes. And he, not completely awake as well, blinked back. She yawned once, letting the oversized top fall to bare her right shoulder.

The comedic moment continued on for several seconds.

"Eek!" Serah's high-pitched yelp startled Ventus, whose face flushed red in embarrassment. It was a good thing the towel around his waist was secured tightly. Claire would surely have his head if he had been caught naked by Serah.

"Serah!" Claire's concerned voice came before the lieutenant ran up the steps with one hand resting on the pistol that was in its holster on her lower back.

"I-I'm sorry!" the younger Farron sputtered, equally embarrassed as Ventus at the mishap. Claire raised an eyebrow and peeked through the open doorway to find her subordinate also blushing furiously and seemingly at a loss of what to do. She stifled her laughter and cleared her throat to hide the snicker.

"Come on, Serah. Let's go before we see something far too revealing for our tastes." She laid her hands on her sister's shoulders, steering her to the other bathroom when the younger woman was still in shock at the sight of the half-naked Ventus in her usual bathroom.

The yellow-haired man sputtered indignantly at his commander's suggestion, unused to such teasing from the usually serious woman. He spat out the excess toothpaste foam in his mouth and protested rather loudly. "Hey! I'm not that kind of guy!"

Whether Claire heard his response or not, Ventus didn't know; he heard nothing from the two Farron women who had disappeared to another part of the house.

Muttering under his breath, the yellow-haired man closed the bathroom door again and finished up his preparations for the day.

It wasn't long before he joined the older of the two Farron sisters at the kitchen counter where three plates had been set. A pot of coffee sat in the coffee maker, its contents staying heated from the hot plate underneath the glass carafe. A box of multigrain cereal and an open carton of milk sat in the middle of the counter next to a plate of toast. Claire had just finished making eggs and bacon on the stovetop and had turned the stove fan off, letting the hot skillet cool before she washed it.

"Help yourself to some coffee," she said. "I hope you like your eggs sunny side up."

"That's fine," Ventus replied, pouring himself a mug of black coffee. He took a sip of the dark liquid and breathed a sigh of relief; the familiar taste of fresh coffee made him feel complete.

"Sit," Claire gestured at the table, helping herself to a bowl of cold cereal. Her own mug of coffee had already been filled and refilled like the caffeine addict that she was—one attribute of the hard-working lieutenant that Serah picked on day in and day out.

"Good morning!" Serah greeted cheerfully, bouncing into the kitchen like a little kid. Claire didn't miss a beat as she passed the box of cereal to her younger sister when she sat on the stool opposite of herself.

"Morning," Claire replied in a much more subdued manner, as though she was only answering because Ventus was there.

"Morning," smiled the yellow-haired man. "Sorry about this morning. I should've locked the door."

"Uh uh," Serah shook her head. "I forgot that you're staying with us. I should've remembered."

"Please don't make this into a petty argument," grumbled Claire. Ventus raised an eyebrow at the sudden change in the older Farron's demeanor. If it wasn't his imagination, she seemed annoyed at how cheery Serah was in the morning, and perhaps even at how easily she was speaking to him.

"Claire, you need to get a boyfriend," pouted Serah in between bites of her breakfast sandwich made from the toast, eggs, and bacon. "I'd hate to see you grow old as a spinster."

The lieutenant choked on her coffee and glared at her little sister, but Serah was unfazed by the reaction. "You're supposed to get married before I am!"

The yellow-haired man chuckled at the traditional thought in Serah's statement. "I don't think she has the time to have a relationship, Serah," he said, coming to his superior's aid. "You know how police work is."

The younger strawberry-blonde scoffed. "Aqua has a boyfriend," she pointed out immediately.

"Yeah, but Terra's a forensic scientist."

"Hmm," Serah hummed thoughtfully, swallowing a mouthful of cold cereal before waving her spoon at the yellow-haired man. "What about you, V? Don't you have a girlfriend?"

Ventus's face flushed red; his attempt to hide it behind his mug of coffee was ineffective. Serah giggled at his embarrassment.

"Come on, you can tell me," she tried to wheedle out of him. The man mumbled softly under his breath, too soft for Serah to hear.

"What?" she said with a smile on her face, leaning closer to him in a playful manner.

"I've never had a girlfriend," he answered, this time louder. The answer earned him a surprised gasp from the younger Farron and raised eyebrows from the older Farron.

"How is that possible?" Serah asked for the both of them. "You're so handsome!"

Ventus simply shrugged in silence.

"Oh, I know!" she exclaimed happily. "You should ask Claire out!"

Both Claire and Ventus choked simultaneously, their faces as red as tomatoes.

"Serah!" scolded the older Farron, but her sister simply giggled.

"You guys are so similar. It's perfect!"

"Workplace romance never works," Claire muttered.

"And what do you call Aqua and Terra, hmm?" Serah responded easily. Her sister said nothing else.

"Well," Ventus began, clearing his throat. "I think it's best that we set off for work. It's getting late."

"Oh phooey," pouted Serah. "Way to spoil a girl's fun."

"Serah…" Claire said with a withered look.

"Yeah, yeah," her sister waved flippantly with her spoon. "I'll do the dishes. Just go."

"Thanks, Serah," the older woman said with a smile.

"Later, Serah," waved Ventus, picking up his coat on his way out. Serah only waved back silently, continuing her breakfast.

The two detectives exited the house and got into Claire's car—the clock said 7:14 AM.

"Sorry about Serah," she said as they pulled out of the driveway and headed off in the direction of the freeway. "She's too nosy for her own good sometimes."

Ventus shook his head. "Don't worry about it. She put you on the spot too."

"And you diverted her attention to you." The man simply shrugged silently.

"But what she said, it's true? You've never had a boyfriend?"

Claire chuckled with amusement before shaking her head. "Our parents died when we were young. We had no other relatives. I had to take care of Serah."

"So you chose to become such a work-a-holic?"

She snorted in response. "Yeah. Besides, I doubt anyone would want to date someone like me. I'm far too headstrong."

"Oh, I wouldn't know about that," Ventus replied teasingly.

"Are you trying to hit on me, Ventus Avers?" she turned the table on him. For the umpteenth time that day, the blonde blushed.

"I wouldn't think about it," he muttered. Much to his chagrin, Claire openly laughed.

"And what about you?" she asked, pulling onto the freeway after the on-ramp meter turned green. "You've never had a relationship?"

"Not really," he said with a shrug. The strawberry-blonde took that as a sign that she shouldn't pry further; not until the man was ready to speak.

"Maybe Serah was right to be nosy," Claire said softly. "It might do you some good to talk about your past."

"Ah," the blonde answered in reflex, not really giving it much thought once again.

"Well, if you want to talk, you know where my office is," the lieutenant offered.

"Of course."

But what is there to talk about when he has no past?

* * *

The dubbed bullpen was milling with activity an hour after the two detectives had arrived at the station. While Claire went to her office, Ventus had become the center of attention amongst his co-workers in his team due to his simultaneous arrival with his superior.

"So, it's true then?" a pale yellow-haired woman asked inquisitively with a smile as she sat on her desk, which happened to be right next to Ventus's own. "You're living with Lieutenant Farron?"

Larxene Williams was one year Ventus's senior and another brilliant detective under Claire's command. There have always been rumors that the pale-haired woman was prone to be cruel in her interrogations; however, their team leader, Aqua Landon, have always kept an eye on the clinically insane woman, only letting her conduct her interrogations on actual wrongdoers to get them to confess even in the presence of their lawyers.

"Where'd you hear that?" the blonde answered with his own question, neither denying nor confirming the rumors.

"So it's true then?" Larxene asked eagerly, parroting her initial question.

"No comment," Ventus replied. He knew better than to provoke the yellow-haired woman, however, giving her a smile and a silent nod to answer her question.

"What happened to the last apartment you had?" Aqua cut in, having just finished answering an internal memo on the computer. "I thought we agreed it was perfect." The blue-haired woman who was their team leader was a few months older than the lieutenant, but Sergeant Aqua Landon had no intentions of being the manager of tens of teams like her own. She'd much rather go out and do field work investigating crime scenes than stay stuck behind a desk.

The blonde simply shrugged.

"At least he'll have two lovely ladies to take care after him," grinned Olette McGregor, the last member of their team, a sienna-haired junior detective.

"I dare you to say that in Lieutenant Farron's presence," the blue-haired woman pointed out, picking up the phone that had rung. "Landon."

"As if I need more females fawning over me," grumbled Ventus, referring to the four-member team that he was in with three of them being women.

Larxene laughed at his complaint.

"How's Serah?" Olette asked. "She still the same?"

"I wasn't aware that she's _that_ nosy," Ventus commented offhandedly.

"Oh?" Intrigued by his statement, the younger woman leaned forward with an elbow on her knees, waiting for the blonde to elaborate.

"Hate to cut the conversation short," Aqua said, picking up her coat from the back of her chair. "Homicide in the Second District."

"And?" Olette tried drawing out more information from the sergeant.

"There was a calling card." The simple words immediately dispelled any easiness the team had felt. Quietly, the other three picked up their gears and followed Aqua out of the station.

Since New Year's Eve, the four detectives had been following a series of homicides that occurred throughout the Bodhum metropolis. Each time, a calling card the size of playing cards was left with a fleur-de-lis symbol printed upon it. It was the most frustrating case the team has ever taken on. Even with all of their forensic expertise, they were unable to track down the culprit.

The sound of camera snapping up pictures was a familiar constant at a crime scene; this time, in the back alley of the Second District behind a tenement that was due for demolition that very week. Had the workers not discovered the body, they might've missed the murder entirely.

"Victim's name is Ienzo Cavalieri," a scarred man reported with a mumble. Aqua scowled at the man, ripping the lit cigarette from the man's lips and smashing the tobacco stick underneath her shoes, much to the older man's chagrin.

"Don't smoke while you're reporting," the sergeant scolded, ignoring the lower ranked man for the rest of her time there.

Ventus watched the entire exchange with wariness. He knew that Braig Dreyfus was a man who held on to grudges. It was his inability to change for the better that prevented him from even reaching the rank of junior detective despite being much older than the rest of them. The policeman grumbled under his breath before leaving the scene and out of the blue-eyed man's sight.

"Anyway," Olette continued once Braig had left the area. "Age 28. Worked as a pharmacist at the Eden Pharmaceuticals on Main and Fifth." She handed the ID card over to the sergeant, who inspected the plastic card.

"Well, I can say for sure that the time of death is over three days," commented Bartholomew Estheim, chief medical examiner of the police department. "The body is far too cold for death to have occurred within the last three hours and the body's not in full rigor already."

"That or the killer decided to crank up a heater to speed up rigor," suggested Larxene, pausing in her picture taking as she looked for another angle and other clues.

"Unlikely, Miss Williams," the medical examiner answered with a finger. "Even if the killer did use heat to speed up rigor, the body wouldn't be as cold as it were. That said, I'll know more when I get him on the table."

"Card looks different," Ventus commented, picking up the calling card with a gloved hand and handing it over to his team leader.

Aqua turned the card around and back, sniffing the card when she smelled a whiff of something strange from the card.

"Need to have Terra do some tests on this card," she murmured, placing it in an evidence bag.

"Gunshot wound in the abdomen," the older man observed aloud. "Help me with the body, Mr. Avers?" The blonde nodded and gladly assisted the medical examiner, who hummed in slight confusion.

"No exit wound," he observed aloud. "Definitely need more examinations with him."

"He didn't die here," said Aqua. "Not enough blood here."

"And no rain in the past three days," added Olette. Aqua nodded quietly.

"That explains why no one noticed the dead body," Ventus pointed out.

"Everything's bagged up," Larxene said. "We're done here."

"Right," nodded the blue-haired sergeant. "Let's head back."

As Ventus helped Dr. Estheim lift the body up onto the gurney, his eyes focused on a piece of paper that was underneath the dead body on the ground.

"What's that there, Mr. Avers?" the doctor asked, watching the blonde pick up with folded piece of paper.

He unfolded the sheet to find a profile page typical of those found in police personnel files. His own portrait stared back at him.

"What on Earth?" Ventus blurted in alarm.

"It's a copy of the first page of your file," gasped Olette.

The five investigators all looked at the corpse that was in the black body bag on the gurney; each one of them bewildered by the unknown connection between the dead man and one of their own.

* * *

"I don't get it," Olette said, picking at the fried noodles that Larxene had ordered for her that evening. She leaned back in her chair as she ate, her eyes looking from the flat screen with the profile of the victim on it. "Why would a small time pharmacist from one of Eden Pharmaceutical's stores have a file on Ven?"

"Could be the killer that had the file," Larxene pointed out.

"That still doesn't explain why though," the sienna-haired detective retorted.

"Maybe Ven's that guy's next target," a man's voice joined in.

"That has got to be the worst hypothesis ever," Larxene retorted derisively.

"Enough," Aqua said forcefully, stopping the potential spat that would undoubtedly occur between her boyfriend and her subordinate. "You found something, Terra?"

"Sure did," grinned the red-haired man, handing the manila folder containing his findings to the sergeant. "Ethylene glycol."

"Antifreeze?" asked Olette with a raised eyebrow. "But isn't it odorless?"

"What Aqua smelled was propylene glycol," explained the forensic scientist. "It's also antifreeze, but used mainly for machines involved with food, drugs, and cosmetics."

"So it could possibly have come from the victim," suggested Larxene.

"Perhaps," agreed Terra, "But I also found traces of terpen esters on that card, which is the sap inside Euphorbia. That stuff is deadly."

"Poinsettias?" Aqua asked, but the man shook his head.

"_Euphorbia virosa_."

"Poison tree," she said.

"Yeah. Whoever this killer is, he knows his stuff."

"Don't you think it's strange though?" Ventus mused aloud. "Why would the killer leave such traces on the card? All of his previous cards have been spotless save for the dirt and grime that stuck on from where the card was left."

"You think it's a copycat?" questioned Olette, but Terra disagreed.

"No. The ink on that card is the same as the other ones. This is the same killer."

"So we're dealing with a serial killer who's gotten cockier." Olette sighed with annoyance; the longer this case dragged out, the most frustrations they all felt, the testier they all got.

"Well, I'm going to go check on Batty. See if you can come up with any connections between the victims," said Aqua.

"Will do," said Ven, looking through the various case files they had compiled on the Fleur-de-lis killer. The team leader and her boyfriend silently left the bullpen to autopsy together.

"I'm surprised the media hasn't gotten a hold of this case," the sienna-haired junior detective remarked as she stared at the large monitor where portraits of the victims were slapped on.

"The higher ups are probably clamping down on releasing our knowledge of the connection between all the victims," Larxene answered, searching for any place in Bodhum that might have a poison tree. It was their best lead thus far; poison trees certainly aren't indigenous to the Bodhum area. They could rightly assume that the killer must have some access to one of the three locations that housed a poison tree: the municipal arboretum, a private laboratory owned by Sanctum Holdings, and University of Bodhum.

"One thing's for sure," she continued after jotting down the addresses of the places they should investigate. "It's a good thing no one's come to pester us about not finding the killer thus far or we might have another death on our hands. Well, I'm going to go check out the places that have poison trees."

"I'll come with you," Olette said, quickly grabbing her jacket off of the back of her chair and the black backpack that held some of her crime scene tools.

Ventus waited until the two were gone before he looked up from the files and at the monitor. Though Larxene's statement seemed blatantly obvious, it got the blonde thinking. She wasn't just right, but the fact that all of the victims had left no ties with their own families was a possible connection between them, even if this "connection" seemed rather farfetched.

Why had all of them lost or estranged their own loved ones? Was there something they were all involved in to cause this deliberate severance of ties?

Filing the farfetched ideas away in the back of his mind, the lone detective continued his search for another connection, unaware of just how correct his theory was.

* * *

_Disclaimer: Both Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy XIII are copyrighted by Square Enix and Tetsuya Nomura. This is a fan production and is in no way, shape, or form to be construed as an official publication._

_A/N: I thought I would venture into a more "adult-based" fanfic compared to before where the characters stayed around their ages as based in their individual games. This will be my first true crossover fanfic with characters from both games playing major roles in the fanfic rather than just taking the characters from one game and putting them in the storyline of another (which is the reason why I filed the two stories in _The Universe of Sora Kazano_ project under KH proper instead of KH crossovers)._

_This will also be my first KH fanfic where the main pairing will not be Sora/Roxas or Axel/Roxas. The pairings will get further developed as the story progresses._

_Hope you enjoyed this first chapter. And as usual, comments and questions are more than welcome._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

Dr. Bartholomew Estheim's office was one of the several autopsy rooms located on the lowest floors of the Bodhum Security Regiment building. Constantly chilled, it was the room that housed all the corpses that were either part of an ongoing investigation or have yet to be sent to the mortuary to be buried.

"You're early, Miss Landon," Batty said aloud when the distinct swoosh sounded from the automatic doors. He continued his task digging deep into the open body to find whatever it was he was looking for.

Aqua had long since given up trying to find out how the head medical examiner was able to figure out who just entered his autopsy room without looking up. After all, there were no visible security cameras right outside the door to show who was approaching and no television screen that would show the said images had the cameras been hidden.

"You found something?" she asked instead, looking at the chart on a clipboard on top of the metal cart next to the center autopsy table.

"Yes," he said absentmindedly before forcibly removing a bullet from the body. His assistant, a stout man named Pence Seton, held out a plastic container for the slug and quickly capped it.

"Let me see that, Pence," Aqua said, holding one hand out for the container. The assistant gladly handed the slug over and turned to clean the autopsy tools the doctor used at the sink before they were to be sterilized again.

The blue-haired sergeant turned the lamp to illuminate the bloody bullet better, frowning at the obvious 9 mm caliber slug. There would be no way to determine which gun the bullet came from until they found the murder weapon itself.

"I found that nasty piece of work lodged in between T7 and T8," Batty said, gesturing for Aqua to join him by the X-rays. "The trajectory had indicated that the bullet entered from the right side, nicked the right kidney, punctured the stomach, diaphragm, and the right lung before coming up against the spine."

"The victim was above the killer," she commented.

"That would appear to be so," he answered. "Terra said that he found traces of terpen ester on that calling card?"

"Yeah," Aqua answered, dropping the plastic container into an evidence bag and labeled it for forensics. She looked up from her task to look at the older man. "You think the bullet might be laced with that stuff?"

"It's a possibility. I can't say for sure how long the victim lasted after he got shot. It is entirely possible that the man suffered greatly and for a long time before he finally died."

"You mean he was suffocating on his own blood?" she suggested.

"His lungs would have collapsed for sure," nodded Dr. Estheim. "It's a terrible way to go."

"I'll get this over to Terra's. Have you found anything that might link our victims?"

"Not a single thing," he answered tactfully. "But you'll be the first to know if we find anything."

"Thanks, Batty," smiled the blue-haired woman. She hurried out of the autopsy room and continued on her way to Terra's lab.

Meanwhile, the bespectacled man looked back down at the corpse that lied on the table. He hunched over with a frown and scanned over the exterior of the body, wondering if he had missed anything. "What are you and the others hiding… I wonder," he murmured to himself.

* * *

Larxene was never a plants girl. She simply didn't find greenery interesting. To her, plants were vegetables, to be consumed in a salad or ingredients in a great soup or stir fry. She loved the city much more than nature; she'd never go to a mountain retreat for relaxation, preferring the popular beaches at Bodhum. So she rolled her eyes when her partner looked around in awe of the number of different plants in the arboretum.

"You know, this place isn't going to go away this weekend," she said to Olette who was currently goggling at the largest Bird of Paradise she's ever seen. "We're not here for sightseeing."

The junior detective blushed at the reprimand and quickly caught up to the slick-haired woman. "Sorry, Larxene," she apologized.

The pair of detectives approached a bespectacled woman dressed in a white lab coat who had been jotting down notes on a clipboard about a particular plant in front of her. The plastic ID badge pinned on her breast pocket told the two in that she was an employee at the arboretum.

"Excuse me," Larxene intruded lightly once the woman had finished jotting down her notes. She pulled out her Guardian Corps ID and showed it to the woman, a researcher by the name of Ifalna Faremis. "I'm Detective Williams. This is my partner Detective McGregor. We'd like to ask you a few questions if that's possible."

"Sure thing," the researcher nodded as she pulled off her glasses to hang them from her breast pocket next to her ID badge. "I'm Dr. Ifalna Faremis. What can I do for the Guardian Corps?"

"We understand that there is a poison tree in this arboretum," Larxene said, cutting to the chase.

Ifalna looked at them perplexed. "_Euphorbia virosa_," she said almost hesitantly, "Yes. It's in my lab. What's this all about?"

"Have you inspected the tree recently? Any cuts in the trunk?" Olette asked.

"Detective, we have the poison tree for the sap, searching for an antidote, researching its effects with other plants, and the likes. There are hundreds of the cuts in the stem where we extract the sap," the woman explained impatiently. "We've had the tree for almost three years. I'm the one responsible for the tree and its main researcher, but there have been many more researchers doing their own studies involving the poison tree."

"We found traces of the sap on a piece of evidence in a murder investigation," explained Larxene. "We have reason to believe that the killer has access to the sap."

"Well, there are two other labs besides mine that are currently working on the sap," she answered thoughtfully. "But no one has access to the tree itself unless they have access to my lab."

"And those people are?" the blonde asked.

"The janitor has the master key for his nightly rounds," she answered as she thought. "The director would be able to get in too, but he's out of the country for a conference until Wednesday. Other than those two, no one else that I can think of."

While Olette jotted down the information, Larxene presented a picture of the latest victim to the woman. "Do you recognize this man?"

Ifalna took a look at the picture and shook her head. "I've never seen him before," she answered bluntly. "But this is a large arboretum and not all the researchers are here at the same time. It is entirely possible that he was here performing experiments at night. But he shouldn't have access to the sap."

"He isn't part of the other two labs conducting experiments with the poison tree sap?" suggested Olette.

"The other two labs are purely daytime labs," nodded the researcher.

"Can we take a look at the poison tree anyway?" the junior detective asked almost too eagerly. She ignored the look that Larxene shot in her direction.

"Of course," smiled Ifalna.

* * *

Ventus looked up from his notes just as Larxene and Olette stepped off of the elevator a couple of paces away from where their desks were.

"If you had been more accommodating, we could've gotten in!" the sienna-haired woman said petulantly.

"We're detectives, Olette," Larxene snarled in annoyance. "It's not our job to be diplomatic."

The yellow-haired man dropped his pen and watched as the two continued to bicker even once they reached their desks and were in the process of settling down.

"Sanctum Holdings?" asked Aqua as she efficiently cut into the argument her detectives were having. Immediately, both Larxene and Olette looked over to the sergeant who kept her eyes on the report in front of her.

"Yeah," Olette answered for the both of them. "How'd you know?"

The blue-haired woman finally looked up from the report and smiled. "I asked the lieutenant."

"What'd she find?"

"More importantly, how did she get the information?" muttered Larxene unhappily.

Although the slick-haired woman didn't question their superior's abilities as a detective—she was a very resourceful woman after all, she was still peeved that she wasn't able to find the same information as Lieutenant Claire Farron. She prided herself on her relentless pursuit of the truth, and yet she couldn't outdo the woman who was just over a year older than herself.

"She's the lieutenant," Aqua said sternly, making a mental note to watch Larxene closely for the next couple of weeks when the detective shrugged dismissively. Ventus too was concerned, though he didn't let it show.

"She found that the poison tree at the Sanctum Holdings lab had been stolen the week before Cavalieri was killed," he answered instead. "They're in the process of obtaining another poison tree."

"Then why not tell us directly?" scowled Larxene.

"Larxene," warned the sergeant, hoping to curb the blonde's anger before it got out of hand.

"Sanctum Holdings has a contract with PSICOM," Ventus continued. "If word got out that they had lost one of PSICOM's investments, they would lose their precious contract."

"Then how did Lieutenant Farron get this information?" frowned Olette.

"Don't ask," Ventus answered tersely. The unspoken tone behind the words told the junior detective to ask another time.

"What's PSICOM doing with a poison tree?" Larxene asked instead.

"That's for you to find out," Aqua said cheerfully, looking back down at the report.

"And how do you propose we do that?" she stared at her superior with annoyance.

"It's sanctioned," she answered succinctly. The other three detectives looked at each other with understanding—code meaning they are allowed to hack into the PSICOM mainframe to find the information.

"Take the rest of the day off, Larxene," the blue-haired woman added after a brief moment of silence. Larxene understood the hidden meaning behind the words, telling her to get in contact with Marluxia Thomas, her friend since college years. The pink-haired man was a DJ at the local punk rock radio station and a hacker who had to work for PSICOM in exchange for not serving prison time after getting caught disrupting the network during his college years. Larxene had assisted him with his work, but Marluxia was loyal to a fault, never revealing her name to PSICOM when he was interrogated.

For that, Larxene was more than happy to bring him onto Guardian Corps cases where he can use his hacker skills to work. And Marluxia, having figured out how they were able to catch him the last time, never refused to hack into PSICOM's network for Larxene either.

"Right," she said with a wicked smile, her eyes blazing with obvious mischief and excitement. "I'm out." She picked up her bags and all but ran off to the elevators, her eyes sparkling with mischief and excitement.

"What should the rest of us do?" Olette asked hesitantly once her senior partner was gone. Aqua had returned to her report while Ventus was typing at his computer.

"You have a quarterly evaluation to do with the Lieutenant," the blue-haired woman replied.

Olette raised an eyebrow at what her superior had just said. "I thought I wasn't due for my quarterly until the end of the month?" she asked. "That's still two weeks away."

Aqua shrugged. "She wanted to do it earlier than later. And when you're done with that, you're done for the day."

"But-" the sienna-haired junior detective began to protest.

"Go home, Olette," Aqua interrupted her. "Clear your head. Don't think about the case after work."

"After you're done, I'll take you out for dinner," added Ventus with a grin.

Olette returned the grin with a mischievous look on her face. "Is that a date, Ven?" she teased. "Wouldn't Lieutenant Farron get jealous?"

Ventus rolled his eyes in disbelief. "Why do you and Larxene think that there's something between Light and me?"

"Maybe I should ask Serah," the sienna-haired woman suggested.

"She'll only tell you that she thinks they're together," Aqua remarked. "But that's what you want, isn't it?"

Olette giggled sheepishly at being found out. The sergeant shook her head in amused resignation. "Get going. Don't keep the lieutenant waiting any longer."

"Yes, ma'am!" the sienna-haired woman saluted Sergeant Landon before she literally marched up the stairs toward the higher ranked officials' offices.

"And that is why," Aqua muttered, going back to her work, "she's still a junior detective." To which, Ventus chuckled lightly before returning to his own task at hand.

* * *

A series of three sharp raps against the shuttered glass window in the wooden door broke the strawberry-blonde's attention from the personnel files on the desk in front of her. She quickly placed the files back in their folders and set them aside before saying: "enter."

Detective McGregor opened the door and stepped into the commanding officer responsible for her team and two others in the Bodhum Security Regiment.

"Close the door behind you," Lieutenant Farron commanded, leaning forward to give the sienna-haired woman all her attention. She gave a cursory physical evaluation of the junior detective, her eyes noting the darkening bags underneath the young woman's eyes despite the sparkle within the aquamarine depths.

"Ma'am," Olette stood in attention.

"At ease, detective. Take a seat."

"Yes, ma'am."

Once the young woman was seated, Claire leaned back in her chair and continued her silent evaluation of her subordinate's physical state. She could tell that the current case that her team was on had its effects on the junior detective—that Olette McGregor was burning out at a slightly faster rate than other junior detectives at this point in time.

"How are you faring in Landon's team, McGregor?" she asked.

"Just fine, lieutenant" came the quick reply.

"Give me your report on the case."

Bewildered by the request, Olette was about to point out that the older woman must have been caught up to their progress when she was the one who gave them the tip that Sanctum Holdings was working with PSICOM. However, Claire quickly continued. "I want to know about the case from _your_ perspective. Start from the beginning."

"Yes, ma'am," nodded the sienna-haired lady. "On January 2, 2010, we responded to a report in the First District at Broadway and Sunset. Victim was Dilan O'Connor, age 37. He was the owner of a martial arts dojo in the neighboring town of Palumpolum. According to interviews with his students, he was on his annual visit to the Dragon Temple in Wutai and was slated to resume his lessons on January 10. Records with Wutai Airways supported those claims.

"The autopsy report indicated that he was shot execution style with the bullet traveling from the middle of his forehead and shattering against the back of his skull. However, there was no sign of a struggle or that he was held captive by the killer. It is theorized that he knew his killer, but no suspect has been found.

"A calling card the size of a playing card was found placed on top of the body. The paper stock was similar to a regular playing card. The back of the card even suggested that it were printed by the Bicycle Company, but the front of the card was printed with an unusual black ink. Instead of the symbols and faces of a playing card, a single fleur-de-lis was printed."

Light nodded in agreement and comprehension, leaning back with her fingers pressed against each other in a triangle. "Continue," she said.

"On February 3, we responded to a report of a dead body in the Third District at Atlantic and Seventh. Victim was Rould Montgomery, age 33. He was a regular card player at the Serendipity casino in Nautilus until he was arrested for cheating and fraud in 2008. He was released on probation on January 15 of this year from Palumpolum penitentiary. A local magician store reported that he was in town to accept a job as a shop clerk.

"The autopsy report revealed that he died from an overdose of methamphetamine. However, he had no history of prior drug use, suggesting that he was forced into an overdose. At the crime scene, we discovered a similar card on the ground next to the body. The presence of the calling card suggested that we were dealing with a serial killer."

She paused in her report, watching the lieutenant say nothing as she continued her silent evaluation of the junior detective. Light nodded once, signaling to the younger woman to resume talking.

"The third murder was reported on March 1 after firefighters discovered a body in the burnt building on the corner of Main and Station Avenue in the First District. Despite the body being burnt down to a blackened skeleton, Dr. Estheim was able to identify the man as Even Mora, age 37. He worked as a researcher at Mako Chemical Labs. Interviews with his colleagues revealed little because he had his own lab and he had no one else working with him.

"Autopsy found that the man had been shot execution style like the first victim prior to the fire. The building had been condemned for some times and was slated for demolition. No witnesses saw anyone enter the building and no vehicles were abandoned nearby, suggesting that he was murdered elsewhere and placed in the building before the fire."

"And the fleur-de-lis calling card was in a bag made out of fireproof material," concluded the older woman. "That marked the third case."

"Yes, ma'am. It was after the third victim that we began using "the Fleur-de-lis killer" in reference to the suspect at large."

"Except we don't have a suspect yet, do we," Light mused with a hint of a smile. "You're done here. Continue with your investigation."

Olette blinked in surprise at the abrupt dismissal. She stared silently for a few minutes as the strawberry-blonde scribbled down notes on the evaluation report in her neat scrawl.

"Question, MacGregor?" Light asked without interrupting her train of thought that she was writing. "You're free to go home."

The junior detective blinked a few more times to get over her speechless state before she stood up and saluted her superior. "Ma'am."

She closed the door behind her, scrunching up her face in slight confusion at the meeting she just had. It was so cursory and so unexpected that Olette couldn't help but wonder if she did indeed go through one of the many evaluations that she'd have over the first two years of her career as a detective for the Bodhum Security Regiment. Even as she walked down the stairs and into the "bullpen", a look of bafflement remained upon her face.

"How was it?" Ventus asked, raising an eyebrow in question at the strange look upon the younger woman's face.

"I didn't expect Lieutenant Farron to ask for a report," Olette replied as the look of bewilderment turned into a pout. "I think I was supposed to give an oral presentation that I didn't prepare for and I could've done better."

Ventus chuckled at her melodramatic display of disappointment, to which Olette huffed petulantly. "I thought these evaluations were supposed to look at my development as a member of the Guardian Corps."

"You'd be surprised to see at how much Light gets just from testing new recruits on the cases they're currently on," he replied with a grin. "I'm surprised she only asked for a report and didn't actually drill you on the details of the case."

The sienna-haired lady scrunched up her face in obvious displeasure. "Ugh," she groaned. "That would've been terrible."

"You forget that Light's a lieutenant because of her acute observation. You probably gave her more information than she needed," added Aqua offhandedly, holding back a snicker as Olette slumped down in her chair. "You're done for a day, in case you need any more reminding."

"Waiting for Ven," she slurred out after a large yawn.

"And I'm done for the day too," Ventus said right after he finished up a memo to Lightning. "Don't stay too late," he looked at his immediate superior sternly. The blue-haired sergeant waved him off dismissively.  
"As if Terra would let me stay that late. Go have fun."

"Later serge." Olette saluted her casually before following the veteran detective towards the elevators. "So where are we going?" she looked at Ventus eagerly.

"You've heard of the Seventh Heaven, right?" he asked while they waited for the elevator to reach their floor. A nod of confirmation told him to continue. "It's a popular hangout for members of the Security Regiment. One of Light's friends from high school actually owns the place."

"Oh?" she raised an eyebrow in amazement. "I always thought it was just a popular place at the marketplace."

"It's popular alright, but you've never heard of any incidents happening there, have you?"

A loud "ding" put their conversation temporarily on hold as the elevator doors slid open. The pair of detectives stepped into the occupied elevator and remained quiet until they arrived at the third underground parking lot.

"So the Seventh Heaven is incident-free because of all the Guardian Corps presence there?" Olette asked. Ventus nodded.

"It's about time you're introduced to some of the random secrets of the Regiment," he grinned. "Just don't tell Larxene that we went; she'll be disappointed she didn't get to come with us."

"Is the Seventh Heaven really that great?" Her question came with a raised eyebrow.

"It is the best place for fish and chips," answered Ventus once they got into his trusty sedan. "Actually, it's the only place where Larxene would even order fish and chips."

"But Bodhum's known for its seafood, how can the Seventh Heaven's fish and chips be that good?"

The blonde gave a lopsided grin as he backed his car out of the parking spot. "Trust me. You've never had fish and chips until you have it at the Heaven. Besides, Larxene loves their weekend menu too."

"They have a different menu during the weekend?" Olette asked incredulously.

"Yup. Tifa converts it into a ramen place for the weekend. No, not the instant noodle that you would've undoubtedly have in your younger years," he quickly added, remembering how little his younger teammate know about the other side of the planet beyond the geography; especially since she's never been to the region known as the "Far East".

"So where is it from?" the junior detective asked instead.

"Wutai," answered Ventus, making a right turn onto the expressway that led to the other side of Bodhum. "Tifa actually studied in Wutai after high school before she inherited the Heaven from her parents. She didn't learn how to make ramen though. She actually convinced a friend who learned the fine art of ramen cooking to move to Bodhum. It's Yuffie who's the cook during the weekends."

"Ramen, huh?" mused Olette with curiosity.

"They really only serve one style of ramen," continued the blonde. "I heard that Yuffie takes two days to prepare the soup stock for the ramen, extracting all the flavors from pork to go into the soup. You'll have to try it one of these days."

"I guess I'll have Larxene take me," she replied.

Ventus chuckled softly. "Just don't let Larxene eat too many bowls. I swear she's addicted to it."

"I'm guessing she goes there every weekend?"

"Tifa and Yuffie can count on her and Marluxia to be the first of their customers both days of the weekend when she isn't called to HQ," laughed Ventus. "It's almost like a religious thing for those two and a bunch of others too. Serah actually goes there every Sunday to join them too."

"Wow, must be something special. I'll have to join them one of these days."

The yellow-haired detective had almost said "It might be a while before that happens", but thought better than to bring up any hints of their current case. Like Light and Aqua, he could tell how this case was affecting her. He would kick himself if Olette burned out before the end of the most important case in her young career.

"Oh dear," Olette uttered as the car came to a stop. "Traffic."

Ventus laughed, "It is rush hour after all." He reached for the radio dial. "What do you want to listen to?"

"Oh," his companion said excitedly, "tune to 710 AM. There's a match for Bodhum FC tonight at AC Palumpolum."

"Football match it is."

* * *

Larxene ignored the looks she got as she walked down the familiar street in the neighborhood known locally as "Outlaw's Haven". It was an area in the Zero District where people congregated to voice their grievances against the government publicly. Yet, most of these people weren't criminals, terrorists, or traitors to the country; they were intellectuals who simply chose to defy authority—namely the government agency known as PSICOM.

Compared to the usual characters that walked down the sidewalks in Outlaw's Haven, Larxene stuck out like a sore thumb with her uniform, choosing not to hide her affiliation to Guardian Corps. Unlike PSICOM, Guardian Corps was well respected amongst the denizens of the Haven, who saw the Corps as the true protectors of the public.

She entered into one of the many buildings that appeared rundown on the outside, but extremely well-kept on the inside save for the old paint in the hallways that were chipping away with people writing on the walls. She smirked at the graffiti'd walls, remembering her first visit to Marluxia's apartment; she had been thoroughly fascinated by the various theories, poems, rants, etc. that was scrawled over the plaster.

The door to Marluxia's apartment was painted black just like all the others, but the word "punk" was spray painted across the door in bright pink. It had been something that Marluxia did the first day he got the place after he promised to replace the door if he ever moved out.

She knocked on the door and listened closely as a muffled "just a minute!" came through the door's threshold. The yellow-haired woman stifled a snicker as a loud crash followed by a string of cuss words sounded before the door swung open to reveal her friend's exuberant smile at seeing her.

"Larry!" he greeted jokingly, knowing just how much the green-eyed woman hated the male name. He quickly took a step back with a wide grin on his face as Larxene threw a playful punch at him.

"I'm fine with you calling me Arlene," she retorted while rolling her eyes, "but honestly, Larry? That's such a stupid name."

"Only because I know you hate it," replied Marluxia, backing into the room to let his best friend in. "So, what does our dear leader want today?"

"Info on PSICOM's connection with Sanctum Holdings," Larxene answered, closing the door behind her.

"Aww yeah," the pink-haired man whooped excitedly with a fist pump. "Time to wreak some havoc."

Larxene rolled her eyes at her friend's enthusiasm. It was the same reaction every single time. Sure she enjoyed these hacking sessions, but there were times when the challenges were turning banal and lacked the thrill it once had.

"Heh heh," Marluxia uttered as he leaned toward the computer monitor while his fingers flew across the keyboard with expert precision. Sometimes, Larxene wondered how on the planet was Marluxia able to keep his 20/20 eyesight. "Come on, baby."

The detective shook her head in amused resignation. "You don't mind if I take a shower, do you?"

"Just don't strut around naked. Your boobs are not that big of a deal." His brash comments earned him a solid slap on the back of his head from his friend. "Ow!"

"Pervert," Larxene muttered.

"Ew, no. Sorry, having sex with a woman isn't exactly on my bucket list."

"You're too young to have a bucket list."

"You never know when you'll die!" exclaimed Marluxia.

The banter continued on before and after the woman took her shower, changing into a large sized tee and a pair of ripped jeans, with her hair was no longer slicked down by hair gel. She continued drying her hair as she leaned forward to look at the screen, checking on the progress Marluxia was making through the multiple layers of security that PSICOM had around their network. Though he was working for PSICOM, Marluxia always preferred hacking through all the layers instead of using his login info to bypass some of the lower level firewalls. Besides, he didn't want to risk them tracing the route back to his account either.

"You in yet?" she asked the question that Marluxia detested.

"See for yourself," the pink-haired man replied, hitting "enter" with a resounding click before leaning back to appreciate his handiwork.

A series of codes scrolled across the screen in rapid succession before the telltale PSICOM interface popped up. A collapsible list of folders appeared in a window organized by various identification letters and numbers. But both Larxene and Marluxia have been in the PSICOM system enough times to recognize in what order each letter and number meant.

"What are we looking for?" the expert hacker asked as Larxene scrolled down the list of folders looking for the ones for Sanctum Holdings.

"PSICOM's involvement with Sanctum Holdings," she replied as they came upon a group of folders with the letters "SHL" in the folder names.

"Experiments?" frowned Marluxia.

"Probably" was the brief answer. "We don't know what exactly though. Just something to do with _Euphorbia virosa_."

"A euphorbia?"

"Not a poinsettia. A poison tree," Larxene quickly added for her friend's benefit. She backed off to let her friend retake control of his beloved computer.

"Right, poison tree," nodded Marluxia, opening the folders in rapid succession as his eyes scanned through the files faster than Larxene could ever hope to do. "L-dopa, anaerobic steroids, pluripotent stem cells, neurotoxins, usual military bullshit…" A couple more clicks later, his eyes lit up happily upon finding the keywords. "Oh, what's this? 'A mixture of sap from _Euphorbia virosa_ and sap from _Hippomane mancinella_ yielded a L-50 dose'… Who the hell wants this stuff!?"

"Hey, look," Larxene said, pointing at a specific section after Marluxia got annoyed and started scrolling down at a faster pace. The hacker quickly stopped on the paragraph in question and read the jargon with a frown.

"They're trying to make a PED out of poison?" he asked skeptically. "Is that even possible?"

"Who knows," shrugged Larxene. "But it would fit PSICOM's M.O. in recent years. Dr. Rose Iracebeth and Dr. Ilosovic Stayne. Guess we found our targets."

"Want me to download the records on their experiments and stash it on an encrypted flash drive?"

Larxene hummed thoughtfully. Aqua would probably want to know more about these two and she wasn't sure if they'd be able to pull anything off of the official records beyond their employment at Sanctum Holdings. "Yeah," she nodded finally. "Would be good to have a reference."

"One encrypted file, coming right up," Marluxia grinned. He inserted one of the many flash drives he kept around the apartment and began downloading the files pertaining to the two doctors involved in the poison tree research.

Larxene went back to drying her hair with the towel while her friend looked at the various references the two doctors used. One particular name continued to appear: Xehanort Carr.

"Hmm," he mused aloud. "I wonder who this 'Xehanort Carr' is." He opened the PSICOM personnel search box and typed the name in, only to find just a name and no profile of the man associated with the name. "Well that's interesting."

"What is?" the yellow-haired woman asked as she looked at the monitor over Marluxia's shoulder.

"Have you ever heard of 'Xehanort Carr'?" he asked.

"Can't say I have," she answered.

"Our two doctors have been using his research as basis for their own. But he's not on the PSICOM database."

"What about Sanctum Holdings' database?" she suggested.

"No way Sanctum Holdings would have a profile if PSICOM doesn't. You forget that PSICOM keeps extensive records on people than their individual employers do."

"So we have yet another name we need to investigate. Wonderful," she said, rolling her eyes. "Thanks, Marluxia."

"Where are we having dinner tonight?" he asked, trying not to let his eagerness sound in his voice.

"How about, Lenora's Garage?"

"Is that a new," Marluxia started to ask absent-mindedly before realizing what exactly the woman had suggested, "I don't eat electronics!"

Larxene gave a toothy grin, her eyes twinkling with mischief. "How about the Heaven then? My treat."

"But that's too far away," he whined.

"Ugh," the detective groaned with mock exasperation. "You complain too much. You should've picked then."

"Let's go to that Vietnamese place on the corner for some foh."

"You're just pronouncing it that way to get on my nerves, aren't you?" sighed Larxene.

"You got me," grinned the pink-haired man. "Come on. I know you'd love some coconut juice."

"You know me all too well." She smirked in jest. "Let's go."

* * *

_Disclaimer: Both Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy XIII are copyrighted by Square Enix and Tetsuya Nomura. This is a fan production and is in no way, shape, or form to be construed as an official publication._

_A/N: It's been awhile since I came back to writing this story, but I've never really abandoned it. It is in my intentions to eventually complete this fic, however long it will take me._

_Rould is my version of Luxord without the "x". I figure it sounded close enough to Roald to make it a plausible name. Rose Iracebeth and Ilosovic Stayne are related to the Red Queen and the Knave of Hearts from Tim Burton's adaptation of _Alice in Wonderland_._

_Lastly, I decided to use the term "football" instead of "soccer" not because I'm from a non-American country, but because it just makes more sense when referring to Bodhum FC (Football Club). American Football will not be played in this alternate universe. Hehe._

_Hope you enjoyed the chapter and thanks for waiting. For now, I will be returning to writing _Fantasia Krystallos_ unless I fancy writing more about this fic again._


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